Touchscreen Control Comes to New Garmin G2000

The move to touchscreen control of avionics gained speed today with Garmin’s announcement of the G2000 integrated flight deck, featuring its GTC 570 vehicle management system (touchscreen controller). The G2000 is aimed at Part 23 piston-powered aircraft and will see its first installation in Cessna’s Corvalis TTX, branded by Cessna as the Intrinzic avionics system. The G2000 doesn’t replace the G1000 flight deck but adds a more capable system for high-performance piston aircraft, featuring 12- to 14-inch WXGA displays coupled with the GTC 570. Pilots will be able to customize the view on the MFD’s multi-pane display, allowing simultaneous viewing of multiple pages of weather, chart, synoptic, Taws, traffic, video and other information. The GTC 570’s infrared touchscreen controller has its own 5.7-inch display, allowing the pilot to run radios, the G2000’s 3-D audio system, flight planning, weather data, system synoptics and other aircraft systems. Other G2000 features (some optional) include a dual-channel, fail-passive autopilot with Garmin’s new electronic stability and protection system, GSR 56 Iridium transceiver for global weather and connectivity, synthetic-vision technology with highway-in-the-sky display, SafeTaxi charts and Jeppesen or AeroNav electronic charts. Garmin expects certification of the G2000 this year.